Random thoughts, revelations, and oddities of a non-hockey nature from PredsOnTheGlass.com

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Attention Bloggers and Social Media Users: New Tennessee Law Could Expose You To Criminal Prosecution

Sometimes great intentions can produce drastically different results. During the just completed legislative session, the Tennessee General Assembly passed a law designated as Public Chapter 362 with the intent of curtailing "cyberbullying" on the Internet, especially on social media sites.

In the process the Tennessee Code Annotated 39-17-308 which covers "Harassment" was butchered to basically leave anyone with an Internet or social media presence potentially exposed to criminal prosecution if they unintentionally cause "emotional distress" to anyone.

The Tennessee Chapter of the ACLU has announced a challenge to the law which takes effect on Friday, July 1, 2011 because they claim that it "violates the guarantee of freedom of speech and expression under the First Amendment."

The authors of the legislation indicate that they feel that the law contains safeguards that would not allow it tho be used except for the intended use.

However, with no definition of "emotional distress," a suit could be filed based on just about anything. Whether it is warranted or not, a person would incur extensive legal costs in clearing their name.

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About Me

PredsOnTheGlass is the father-son duo of Buddy and Jackson Oakes. As Day One season ticket holders, we have been avid Predator fans since the beginning of the franchise. In addition to our home site, PredsOnTheGlass.com, Buddy is the Hockey Beat Writer for the Columbia (TN) Daily Herald. He has also been a contributor to numerous web sites including Inside Hockey, Hockey Prime Time, and Hockey54. Jackson is a former player at Southern Ice in Franklin, TN. and also has been a contributor to the Red Light District. Buddy and Jackson also have a weekly PredsOnTheGlass Radio show on BlogTalkRadio that is live at 7:00 Central each Monday night and always available on podcast. Guests are featured from across North America as POTG Radio strives to bring something fresh and interesting with each episode. Our goal is to "Spread the gospel of the Nashville Predators to the far corners of the Hockey World"